EpicTexting
Twilio's price list looks simple, $0.0083 a text, but your real bill depends on four things: where you're texting, how long each message is, carrier fees, and the number you send from. The calculator above combines all four. Below is what each one means and how to keep the total down.
Twilio SMS prices by country
| Country | Outbound SMS | Phone number / month |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $0.0083 + carrier fee | $1.15 local · $2.15 toll-free |
| Canada | $0.0083 + carrier fee | $1.15 local · $2.15 toll-free |
| United Kingdom | $0.056 | $2.50 mobile |
| Australia | $0.0515 | $8.25 mobile |
| Germany | $0.112 | $30 mobile |
| India | $0.0832 | Contact Twilio |
Twilio list prices per outbound segment, checked 6 October 2026. Twilio can change prices, so confirm on Twilio's pricing page. Large senders can ask Twilio sales for committed-use discounts.
How SMS segments change the price
Twilio bills per segment, not per message. How many characters fit in a segment depends on the characters you use:
| Encoding | When it's used | 1 segment | Longer messages |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSM-7 | Plain letters, numbers, common punctuation | 160 characters | 153 per segment |
| Unicode (UCS-2) | Any emoji, curly quotes, or characters like ñ outside GSM | 70 characters | 67 per segment |
One emoji in a 150-character message turns 1 segment into 3, which triples the cost. Characters like { } [ ] ~ € | are allowed in GSM-7 but count as two each. Paste your real message into the calculator to see the exact count.
US carrier fees
US carriers add their own fee on top of Twilio's price for texts sent from long codes and toll-free numbers:
| Carrier | SMS out | SMS in |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | $0.0035 | $0.0035 |
| T-Mobile | $0.0045 | $0.0025 |
| Verizon | $0.005 | $0.007 |
| US Cellular | $0.005 | $0.0025 |
The calculator uses $0.0045 as a blended estimate, since you rarely know which carrier each recipient is on.
Phone number costs
You need a number to send from. In the US a local (10DLC) number is $1.15 a month and a toll-free number is $2.15. Short codes (5 or 6 digits) cost $1,000 a quarter or more and suit only very high volumes. In the UK you can also send from an alphanumeric sender ID (your brand name) for free, but people can't reply to it. Here's how to get a Twilio phone number.
A2P 10DLC registration in the US
To text US numbers from a US local number, carriers require you to register your business (a “brand”) and what you send (a “campaign”) through Twilio. There are one-time registration fees and a small monthly campaign fee, set by carriers and passed through by Twilio. See Twilio's current A2P 10DLC fees in the console. Unregistered traffic gets blocked (error 30034). Toll-free numbers need toll-free verification instead.
Real examples
| Who | Segments | Twilio, monthly (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Salon, 300 reminders a month (US) | 1 | $4.99 |
| Sports club, 1,000 texts with an emoji (US) | 2 | $26.75 |
| Shop, 5,000 offers a month (US) | 1 | $65.15 |
Includes Twilio's SMS price, an estimated carrier fee and a $1.15 local number. Excludes 10DLC registration.
How to pay less for Twilio SMS
- Drop the emoji in long messages. It can halve or third your segment count.
- Use straight quotes. Curly quotes pasted from a document switch the whole text to Unicode.
- Keep it under 160 characters. Cut greetings and filler, and link to details.
- Clean your list. Failed messages to dead numbers still cost a processing fee.
- Don't pay a markup. Many texting platforms sell per-text credits priced above carrier cost. With your own Twilio account you pay Twilio's price directly.
That last one is how EpicTexting works: you connect your own Twilio account and pay Twilio directly, and EpicTexting is free for 100 texts a month (then from $4.99). Send from the Google Sheets add-on, the web, or by asking ChatGPT. See EpicTexting pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Twilio charge per SMS?
In the US and Canada, $0.0083 per outbound segment on long codes, toll-free and short codes. US carriers add $0.0025 to $0.005 per text on top. International prices vary by country, for example $0.056 to the UK and $0.112 to Germany.
Does Twilio charge for incoming SMS?
Yes. Inbound SMS is billed too, at $0.0083 per segment in the US and Canada and $0.0075 in the UK and Australia, plus US carrier fees on inbound messages.
What is an SMS segment?
Carriers split long texts into segments. A message using only standard (GSM-7) characters fits 160 characters in one segment, or 153 per segment when it's longer. Any emoji or special character switches to Unicode, which fits 70 characters, or 67 per segment.
How much is a Twilio phone number?
A US or Canadian local number is $1.15 a month and a toll-free number is $2.15 a month. A UK mobile number is $2.50, Australia $8.25 and Germany $30 a month.
Is there a free Twilio trial?
Yes. New accounts get trial credit. On a trial you can only text numbers you've verified, and messages carry a trial notice until you upgrade.
Do failed messages cost money?
Twilio charges a processing fee of $0.001 per failed message in the US.